Guitar  Lessons                              

LESSON 1

The Guitar The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck, to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with either nylon or steel strings. Guitars are made and repaired by luthiers. Acoustic guitars with hollow bodies have been in use for over a thousand years. The tone of an acoustic guitar is produced by the vibration of the strings, which is transferred via the saddle and bridge to the guitar soundboard, and is amplified by the body of the guitar. The sound comes out through the sound hole. The particular shape and material of the soundboard, along with the shape of the body and the fact that a guitar uses strings, give a guitar its distinctive "sound." The guitar soundboard is made so that it can vibrate up and down relatively easily. It is usually made of spruce or another light, springy wood, about 2.5 mm thick. On the inside of the soundboard is a series of braces. These strengthen the soundboard and to keep the it flat, despite the action of the strings which tends to make the saddle rotate. The braces also affect the way in which the top plate vibrates.

Size Does Matter Acoustic guitars come in a wide variety of sizes, from the extremely small travel guitars, to large jumbo guitars. The most important factors when choosing an acoustic guitar size are sound quality and playability. In general, larger instruments are louder and have deeper, more rounded bass notes, but smaller guitars are easier to play and easier to travel with.

Open String Names Open strings means to play a string without fretting anything. So that's why it's called Open.

Tuning The Guitar The 5th Fret Tuning Method is a simple way to check your tuning and to tune your guitar. With this method you have to get at least one of your strings in tune (preferably the low E string or the 6th string), because from that string you will tune the rest of your strings using that as a reference. If you don't have access to a tuning fork, keyboard, or other tuning device, then that's fine. You can get one string as close as you can by ear and then tune the rest of the guitar to it. The guitar will be in tune with it's self and will sound just fine, even if every string is a little sharp or flat.

Use the picture as a reference, Assuming now that your 6th String (Low E string) is in tune....

• Fret the 5th fret on the 6th String, If your guitar is in tune or close, then if you pluck the fretted 6th string and the open 5th String, they should sound pretty close. Tune the pegs on your 5th string until they match the 6th String.

• Now that the 5th String is in tune we can now tune the 4th String to it. It is the same process as before, fret the 5th fret on the 5th string and play the string and the Open 4th String, and then turn the pegs on the 4th String till they match.

• Same process again, fret the 5th fret on the 4th String, and tune the Open 3rd String to the fretted 4rd String.

• Now this is where it changes, Instead of fretting the 5th fret on the 3rd String, you fret the 4th, (Just like it shows in the picture). So you fret the 4th fret on the 3rd String and tune the Open 2nd string to it.

• For the last string, we fret the 5th fret on the 2nd String this time. We then tune the Open 1st String, to the 5th fretted 2nd String.

For a simple check to see if you do it right, you play both the 1st and the 6th string at the same time. They should sound similar, but just in a different octave. They both are tuned to E, they just are in different Octaves.

e:--------------0--0-: B:-----------0--5----: G:--------0--4-------: D:-----0--5----------: A:--0--5-------------: E:--5--------------0-:

LESSON 2 Guitar Tonewoods Why is it that different woods are used for acoustic guitars, and how do these woods affect the sound of the instrument? If a guitar’s body shape produces the sonic equivalent of a meal, think of tonewoods as the seasoning. The unique acoustic properties of woods help color a body shape’s fundamental sound. The key is to find the woods that match up best with your playing style and intended applications. The guitars top contributes about 70% of the tone, so top wood or the soundboard is very important. The two most common woods used for the soundboard are spruce, and cedar. The woods used in the back and sides of an acoustic guitar contribute only around 30% of the tonal variation, but are still important; the difference in tone between the same model of guitar with identical top woods, but different back and sides can be heard in any guitar shop. Common woods used for the back and sides of the guitar are rosewood, mahogany, maple, and walnut. Solid Wood vs. Laminates Solid wood means that the top, back or sides of the guitar is made from one solid piece of wood. Laminate is wood in which sheets of wood are layered on top of each other. Usually a thin layer of more expensive wood is placed over several layers of cheaper wood which saves money. Laminated wood does not vibrate as well as a single piece of wood which is why it does not produce a guitar with a beautiful sound and decent volume. It is, however, much cheaper than solid wood which is why it is used in making cheap guitars. A laminate is a material created by gluing together thin sheets of wood; basically, it's plywood. Laminate is much cheaper than solid wood for the same size, and can be veneered with any other wood to make it look pretty. It's very important to understand that when you read a guitar spec, unless it explicitly says solid wood; it's not. “Solid spruce top, mahogany back and sides” means the back and sides are in fact laminate, veneered with mahogany. A solid wood guitar will sound better when it is aged. "Aging" occurs when the wood is vibrated. What happens is that the sap in between each grain of the wood loosens as it vibrates. When the sap loosens, the wood becomes more free to vibrate, and as we know, vibrations are everything in an acoustic guitar body. The amount of aging depends almost purely on how much you play the guitar. A laminated wood however, is not free to vibrate much, hence a guitar with laminated wood will not age as well (not much tonal improvement).

Chromatic Scales Imagine a keyboard with nothing but white keys: It would be very difficult to keep track of which note was which. Early keyboards were a bit like this until someone had the idea of painting some of the keys black: Then an even brighter and better idea - the black keys were narrowed and raised in height so that the player could find individual keys by touch alone: The clever part of all this is the pattern of black notes grouped as they are in twos and threes, enabling the player uniquely to identify each note on the keyboard. The white (natural) notes are defined as follows: C positioned just to the left of the group of two black notes D positioned between the two black notes E positioned just to the right of the group of two black notes F positioned just to the left of the group of three black notes G positioned between the first two out of the group of three black notes A positioned between the second two out of the group of three black notes B positioned just to the right of the group of three black notes The black notes each have two possible names depending on whether you are looking up at them from the note below or down at them from the note above. C# is just to the right of C and can also be called Db because it's just to the left of D D# is just to the right of D and can also be called Eb because it's just to the left of E F# is just to the right of F and can also be called Gb because it's just to the left of G G# is just to the right of G and can also be called Ab because it's just to the left of A A# is just to the right of A and can also be called Bb because it's just to the left of B But notice that there is no E#, Fb, B# nor Cb because we have to leave a gap in the pattern of black notes at these points or the poor keyboard player would be right back where we started. The chromatic scale is best learned in both directions: Ascending using sharp (#) names: C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C and Descending using flat (b) names: C B Bb A Ab G Gb F E Eb D Db C

The guitar fretboard is arranged chromatically and knowing this scale is the key to working out all the notes on your guitar. For example, here are the notes on the E string: See if you can apply this scale to figure out the notes on the other strings. Basic Chords Chords In Each Major Key

KEY 1 2 3 4 5 6

A A Bm C#m D E F#m B B C#m D#m E F# G#m

C C Dm Em F G Am

D D Em F#m G A Bm

E E F#m G#m A B C#m

F F Gm Am B C Dm

G G Am Bm C D Em

Each major key has 3 major chords (1, 4 and 5) and 3 minor chords (2, 3 and 6).

Strumming Patterns When you hear a song, you tap your foot or snap your fingers to the beat. Normally, your toe-tap or finger-snap will fall on an emphasis or a pulse in the rhythm. Every song has a time signature, or a rhythm, some has 4 beats, some has 3 beats, etc. A strumming pattern is based on the beat or rhythm of a song. A common strumming pattern for a song with 4 beats is: An example of a strumming pattern for a song with 3 beats is:

LESSON 3 Guitar Picks: don’t leave home without it… A guitar pick is a plectrum used for guitars. A pick is generally made of one uniform material; examples include plastic, nylon, rubber, felt, tortoiseshell, wood, metal, glass, and stone. Playing guitar with a pick produces a bright sound compared to plucking with the fingertip. There are many varieties of sizes and shapes for guitar picks and they are available in different thickness, from thin picks (less than 0.60mm thick) to heavy picks (greater than 1.20mm thick). The shapes and thickness of a guitar pick you choose will have great effect on your playing. When holding a guitar pick properly, the pick should be an extension of your hand (like a kitchen knife). Hold it tight enough so it does not fall off, but keep your hands relaxed. When strumming the guitar with a pick, use wrist action instead of moving the whole arm. Choose a pick that you are comfortable with. Buy and try different shapes, sizes, and thickness…

More Advanced Strumming

LESSON 4 Guitar Capo (Capotasto – head of fretboard) A guitar capo is a clamp that you stick on different frets of the guitar to change the pitch or key of the open strings. Each fret on the guitar is a half step, therefore, if you put a capo on the 1st fret, all of the open strings will sound a half step higher than normal. This makes changing the key of a song very easy. For example, if you have a song in the key of G with the chords G, C, and D, you could change the song into the key of A. You would just put a capo on the 2nd fret, and play the chord shapes G, C, and D. These chord shapes will now sound a whole step higher. They will sound like the chords A, D and E. Position Capo Directly Behind the Fret When putting a capo on the neck, position it directly behind the desired fret. Don’t put it directly on the fret as this will get a muted sound. Also, avoid putting the capo too close to the far fret behind the desired fret as this will not allow the strings good contact and the strings will buzz. Position the Capo on the Neck Straight, Not Angled Be careful to position the capo straight up and down on the neck in order to make good contact with the strings. If the capo is angled some strings may buzz while others may be pulled out of tune. Capos Work Best Up to the Ninth Fret Capos function best at the ninth fret or lower. When used above the ninth fret there is not much room for your hand to fit on the neck. Clamping and unclamping the capo can cause the strings to go out of tune. Check your tuning!

How To Start A Hymn When a hymn is called: 1. Quickly scan the music to determine the key, time signature, and tune. 2. Determine your tempo. 3. Decide whether a short or long introduction is fitting (depending on the spirit and level of life of the meeting), or whether just one chord should be struck (e.g. when starting a hymn again). 4. Play the introduction strongly and boldly. We prefer to play the first line of the hymn and resolve to the home key. However, if you are unable to do so, an introduction using the last line is acceptable. 5. Be familiar with the words of the hymn so that the melody can be played accordingly (e.g. song of rejoicing should be played joyfully). 6. Always keep a listening ear to the singing regarding the tempo and the volume. Ending A Song A way to end a song is to play the 4th chord of a key. For example, if playing in the key of C, you could end a song with C – F – C. If in the key of D, then D – G – D. A song with G would be G – C – G.